One evening, a young guard brought in a confiscated blue accordion. He tossed it at Giorgi’s feet. "Play something better than the sound of spoons hitting empty bowls," the guard sneered.

To the guards, he was just another face in the line for the daily —that gray, flavorless broth that tasted more of iron and salt than food. But to the other inmates, Giorgi was "The Maestro." Rumor had it he was once a student of the great jazz pianist Giorgi Mikadze in a life before the shadows took him.

com/giorgi-surmanidze">Giorgi Surmanidze or more about Georgian jazz ?

The music was so sharp and defiant that for a moment, the iron bars seemed to hum. The "balanda" didn't taste like survival that night; it tasted like home.

баланда - Translation into English - examples Russian